It is a valuable testimony to the multicultural heritage of Greater Poland. It is notable for its original wooden architectural details (wooden details are extremely rare). Among the old Gothic Revival fittings of the church, the most valuable ones are a pipe organ from the mid-19th century and a structure combining the functions of an altar and a pulpit.

History

Ujście used to be the location of one of the more important gords of the Pomorze-Greater Poland borderland. It was mentioned in 1108 in the Chronicles by Gallus Anonymus. The gord and the surrounding settlement were situated at an important route connecting Poznań and Gniezno with towns of Northern Greater Poland and with Białogard and Kołobrzeg, nearby a crossing point at the Noteć River. With time, a trade settlement grew up in the vicinity of the gord. In 1413, it was granted municipal rights by King Władysław II Jagiełło. Ujście was a royal town, one of the more important urban settlements in Greater Poland.

Following the First Partition of Poland (1772), contrary to the provisions of the partition treaty, Ujście was incorporated into the Prussian Partition in 1773. German settlers started to flood into the town.

The Evangelical parish in Ujście was established in 1841. It covered Ujście and two neighbouring communes. Originally, the parish had no church; services were held in a classroom rented for this purpose. A timber-framed Evangelical church was only built in the years 1851-1852 (on a site which used to be occupied by the old gord and a castle, later — a starosta’s manor house). At the same time, a pastor’s house was built nearby the church. The construction works were financed by King Fryderyk Wilhelm III, the Gustav-Adolf-Stiftung Association, and a number of private contributors. The church was consecrated by the bishop D. Freymark on 24 November 1852. The building underwent major modifications between 1927 and 1929. After the end of World War II, the Evangelical church was used as a storeroom for many years and was gradually falling into decline. Renovation works on the building were commenced in 1996 as there were plans to adapt it for the Noteć River Museum. Currently, the church houses a gallery which hosts painting, sculpture, photographic, and craft exhibitions, as well as meetings with writers and musical concerts.

Description

The church is situated on a hill in the north-western part of Ujście, by the so-called Old Market Square. The chancel faces the north. Opposite the church, on the north side of Rynek [the Market Square], stands the pastor’s house — a small timber-framed building, currently substantially modified, due to which it has lost its original character. On the south side, in front of the church, there is a statue of a glassworker (there is a large glassworks in Ujście).

The aisleless church has a rectangular floor plan; the chancel, narrower than the nave, terminates in a semi-hexagon on the north side. Inside, by the chancel, there are two sacristies. On the south side, there is a quadrangular tower, merged with the main body of the church. The nave is covered with a tall gable roof; the much lower chancel has a multi-pitched roof. The entire building is dominated by the tall, four-storeyed tower, topped with a tall pyramidal roof.

The church has a timber frame structure with brick infill, resting on a stone wall base. The interior walls are covered with plaster. The tower roof is covered with sheet metal and the other roofs are covered with roof tiles. Inside, there is a wooden beamed ceiling.

The design of the exterior walls is based on the contrast between the dark timber frame and the red brick infill. The main entrance, located on the central axis of the front (south) façade, is headed by an ogee arch. The windows, rectangular or triangular-arched, are framed by decorative wooden surrounds. The windows in the side walls are arranged into two rows: the large windows at the upper level are divided into many sections and the rectangular windows at the lower level are smaller and have no divisions.

Inside, there is a wooden beamed ceiling. Wooden galleries run along the south, east, and west walls. The original fittings of the church which have survived to this day include the Gothic Revival altar-pulpit from the mid-19th century.

The church may be visited from the outside. The gallery hosts exhibitions, meet-the-author sessions, concerts, etc. More information is available on the website of the Ujście Cultural Centre: www.udk.ujscie.pl

compiled by Krzysztof Jodłowski, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Poznan, 01-12-2015.

Bibliography

• Drewniane kościoły w Wielkopolsce, koncepcja, teksty i wybór fotografii P. Maluśkiewicz, Poznań 2004, s. 267.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. V, z. 1: powiat chodzieski, Warszawa 1965, s. 9-10.
• Ujście : stadium historyczno-urbanistyczne, oprac. Dorota Leśniewska i Krzysztof Jodłowski, Ujście; Poznań 2005, s. 33 [mpis NID-OT Poznań].
• Werner A., Geschichte der ewangelischen Parochien in der Provinz Posen, Posen 1898, s. 402.